Kananaskis Country is Chretien Country.
Prime Minister Jean Chretien says he won't tolerate anybody muscling in on his territory during the G-8 summit.
That's whether it's President George W. Bush wanting to talk about the Middle East crisis or thousands of protesters blocking the streets.
A feisty Chretien -- who could get some help from rock star Bono in his quest -- insisted yesterday his African aid plan won't be shoved aside because he's the boss at the meeting of eight major world economies.
"Not at all, because I'm the chair," said Chretien, after a meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder in his Parliament Hill office.
Chretien, who arrives in Alberta today, said he had no comment on Bush's call yesterday for Yasser Arafat's replacement as Palestinian leader as a key to peace.
"We'll have to be briefed before I can reply," Chretien said.
As Calgary shopkeepers board up windows bracing for the worst from protesters, Chretien enthused that anti-G8 demonstrations in recent days in both Calgary and Ottawa have been peaceful and bode well for larger protests expected tomorrow and Thursday.
Chretien downplayed the extensive security measures, brushing off the news that government workers in Ottawa had snuffed the Centennial Flame and encased the Parliament Hill monument in concrete yesterday.
"Listen, we'll re-light it. We have a lot of natural gas in Canada. There's no problem," Chretien said.
Schroder predicted a successful summit for Chretien's Africa plan and praised the PM as "one of the greatest, certainly one of the very important, I'm not going to say, old, politicians."
Sun sources have confirmed that U2 lead singer Bono, a pro-Africa activist, is trying to work out glitches in his touring schedule so he can attend the summit.
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